Well we finally made it. The end of the Roger Moore era. It's been an up and down roller coaster ride of enjoyment level, but then again so was Connery. So right away the first problem here is that Roger Moore was too old to return. This was the point where even he realized, from what I understand he found out that he was older than Tanya Roberts's mother and that was what made him decided it was time to hang up the boots after this film. I've loved Roger Moore as Bond and he's a great actor, but watching him age more and more as the films went on was just kind of a bummer. Luckily Moore was able to hide it enough with his great performances but I'm happy to know that I will finally get to move onto Timothy Dalton after this. Though I could end up regretting that thought after I see those movies, but I'm not there yet, so let's focus on A View To A Kill (terrible title).
This film is pretty hit and miss for me. First thing to mention is that I feel this is more of a darker toned Bond film. Not all the way through but there are some very mature moments. There's some use of squibs for gun shots which is something you don't see much in these Bond films. You also get one of the more mentally unstable villains who treats his henchman as disposable tools. He literally starts machinegunning a large group of his own workers. Honestly it's a nice change of pace from a lot of the campiness that happens in the Moore era. The story however is one of the worst. Everything revolves around microchips, which I give them credit for a little modernization, but the whole scheme is really ludacris for a microchip manufacturer. Now there are mentions of KGB ties and somehow his henchwoman May Day is able to pick up a man over her head as if she's a genetically modified freak but none of it makes sense. I guess he does deal with adrenaline injections into horses so maybe May Day is using it as well? I don't know it's not really explained. So Zorin's plan is to detonate some explosives at a fault line and cause Silicon Valley to flood, therfore destroying microchip production plants so he will have the biggest stockpile to sell. This is such a bad plan, especially considereing the places in Silicon Valley are the people who would actually be buying his chips. Though there is a large market in the rest of the world so I guess it doesn't matter too much, but the plan just seem way to super villain for a man like Zorin, but he is insane so I guess I'll buy it.
So did I happen to mention that Zorin is played by Christopher freaking Walken? I had no idea that he played a Bond villain, and he's great. Not to mention he rides around in a sweet blimp. Though when is ever Walken not great? If you want a villain that is supposed to be completely insane, then they got the right actor. Roger Moore is old but is still a great James Bond. I echo the review of Never Say Never Again that I wish they were playing up the aging secret agent angle and the Dalton movies could have been a relaunch but it's played by the numbers once again here. Tanya Roberts is absolutely gorgeous. I mean really. Shes beautiful. I feel like I should just keep talking about how pretty she is because her performance was completely the opposite of her looks. She's the most unbelievable character in the film and her acting is pretty cringe worthy. It's okay though because she sure is pretty! Right guys? Grace jones plays May Day and she is kind of hit and miss for me. She sometimes comes off trying too hard, almost as though she's performing on stage instead of on film, but when she works she works well.
Even though this film is about the same length as the average Bond movie ( about two hours and eleven minutes I think?) it actually has a very quick pacing. This is one I wouldn't have an issue giving a rewatch (and I feel like I need to) because it moves very fast. There's not a lot of slacking around and pretty much everything that is happening is tightly edited and serving the plot in some way. Not every thing happening on screen is that great though. Right in the beginning there is this really awkward fake butterfly dance, followed by Bond chasing May Day, leading to later May Day doesn't immediatly recognize Bond at Zorin's party, even though she got a pretty good look at him at the restaurant. There's a lot of weird jokes, such as a possible guy sleeping with a prostitute in the back of a truck? On top of that though there are some decent action scenes and some great stunt work. It seems obvious that Terminator 3 stole the fire track ladder stunt from this movie. I also liked the fight on top of the Golden Gate Bridge but the bad guys playing hot potato with the TNT was kind of silly. My favorite scene is easily the elevator trap though. Great tension and is an awesome idea for a trap.This isn't a geat Bond film but it's not bad. I give it three out of five stars and it's one I definitly want to revist, especially for Walken who makes the movie worth it alone. Now I'm ready to say goodbye to Roger Moore and hello to Timothy Dalton.
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